Douluo Dalu 3: The Legend of the Dragon King

Chapter 1897: Nine Palace Grids

 [1]

The golden halo was very peculiar in appearance, and there seemed to be a series of small golden angels on it, flapping their wings in a serene manner.

In the wake of the halo, all of the greyness in the air quickly melted away like snow and ice, and the deathly beings also disintegrated into nothingness; even Ghost Emperor's ghostly flames had been significantly nullified.

This was her Holy Dissipation!

Harosha's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this. He had already been wounded earlier by Gu Yuena, and even his Infernal King Sword had been snapped. To further compound his woes, the opponent that he least wanted to face was Yali. Of course, her individual combat prowess wasn't all that impressive, but her holy power was the perfect counter to his abilities.

Harosha could sense that Yali was already unleashing the full extent of her power with her Holy Dissipation. Was this really necessary? The match had only just begun, yet most of his Infernal King Domain had already been vanquished, and he was left feeling quite speechless.

Yali was currently the only healing system Limit Douluo in the world.

She was only a demigod, but with the enhancements she received from her four-word battle armor, she possessed powers comparable to a quasigod.

During the Shrek City bombing, Yun Ming had been the primary target of the Holy Spirit Cult, and second only to him was Yali. However, Yun Ming's sacrifice had allowed Yali to survive, and now, she was posing a major threat to the Holy Spirit Cult.

The five abyssal rulers emerged from behind the four powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult, and the Enchantress Empress instantly vanished into thin air while the other four abyssal rulers picked their opponents.

One of the abyssal rulers had a very special appearance, and he took a stride forward, placing him between Ghost Emperor and Harosha. His head had been lowered, and he had been standing at the back the entire time, so no one noticed him. However, as he raised his head now, the onlooker was immediately struck by a sense of horror.

This was an abyssal ruler with a humanoid body, yet an extremely hideous face that resembled that of a lizard.

His face was also covered in colorful scales, and he had a pair of eyes that were bulging outward while constantly darting around and glowing with an unsettling light.

He pointed his right index finger forward, and in the next instant, a peculiar scene unfolded. All of the colorful scales on his face abruptly exploded into a series of colorful projections, forming a cluster of square grids that shot forth in all directions.

What kind of ability was this? 

Despite the violent shockwaves resulting from the clashes between the two camps, the colorful square grids were able to pass through the air completely unaffected.

Tang Wulin's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he was stunned to discover that these colorful grids were rather similar to his Unpredictable Storm, in that they were manifested from a type of special ability that incorporated the powers of both space and time.

There were a total of nine square grids, and as soon as they emerged, they quickly assumed a certain formation in mid-air while the unsettling abyssal ruler began to chant something.

All of a sudden, a huge number of abyssal creatures down below disintegrated into abyssal energy before surging upward.

Tang Wulin reflexively raised his Golden Dragon Spear to intervene, but he immediately felt a burst of menacing intent coming from Demon Sovereign, causing him to refrain from lashing out.

After all, no abyssal ruler had fallen in this match yet, so he had no right to intervene.

The enormous surge of abyssal energy rose up into the sky and quickly began to fuse into the square grids.

"Stop him!" Yali yelled.

Qiangu Dieting immediately stepped forward as an unyielding aura erupted out of his body, and he began to radiate bright golden light as he gripped onto his Coiling Dragon Staff and unleashed a devastating strike that threatened to shatter heaven and earth.

Qiangu Dieting was a quasigod and a four-word battle armor master; among all of the powerful beings present on this battlefield, there weren't many who would dare to take a full-force attack from him head-on.

However, the abyssal ruler with the lizard head merely looked up at him with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

All of a sudden, the nine colorful grids began to glow brightly, and the battlefield was instantly transformed.

"That's an absolute ability!" Xu Xiaoyan suddenly exclaimed.

As a control system Soul Master with absolute soul skills herself, she was particularly sensitive to other absolute control system soul skills.

As soon as those nine square grids began to glow, she immediately sensed an aura that was rather similar to her own soul skills.

This was an absolute ability that applies even to Limit Douluos!

All of a sudden, Qiangu Dieiting's devastating attack fell upon nothing but empty air, and in the next instant, he found himself situated inside one of the nine grids.

He wasn't the only one; all 18 of the combatants on the battlefield had been split up with two in each grid, and each pair of combatants were from opposing camps.

Thus, the nine-on-nine battle was instantly transformed into nine one-on-one battles.

A cold smile appeared on Demon Sovereign's face upon seeing this.

Segmenting the battle using the Nine Palace Grids was a strategy that was planned out well in advance.

The discreet abyssal ruler that had unleashed this ability was none other than the fifth abyssal sovereign and the ruler of the Sage Race, the Sage Sovereign!

This was a very special race in the abyssal plane as the Sage Sovereign had no brethren and was the only member of his race.

In terms of raw power, he was only around the quasigod level, so his combat prowess was ranked dead last among the 10 abyssal sovereigns.

In terms of spiritual power, he couldn't compare with the Spirit Sovereign, but just like Xu Xiaoyan in Shreks Seven Monsters, he was the ultimate control unit of the abyssal plane.

The Sage Sovereign's ability to control a battlefield was unmatched; if Xu Xiaoyan were the number one control system Soul Master on the Douluo Continent, then he would be the number one control unit of the abyssal plane, and these Nine Palace Grids was his signature ability.

Among the rulers of the 108 abyssal levels, their rankings were entirely decided by power. If an abyssal ruler wanted to elevate their ranking in order to obtain more abyssal energy, then they would have to challenge an abyssal ruler on a higher level, and during those matches, the Sage Sovereign would act as the referee.

His ability to split up the battlefield into segments was perfect for such matches. In each grid of the Nine Palace Grids, only one pair could face off, and the battle wouldn't conclude until one side was dead.

Thus, only the final victor would be able to leave the grids created by him alive.

Aside from that, the Sage Sovereign had the ability to take the abyssal energy of any species of abyssal creature for himself.

Furthermore, the Sage Sovereign was the Holy Lord's advisor, and his status in the abyssal plane wasn't inferior to the Spirit Sovereign's by much.

If the Spirit Sovereign were the commander of the abyssal army, then the Sage Sovereign would be the abyssal army's main strategist.

He represented the Holy Lord, and it was no exaggeration to say that he was the army supervisor whom even the Spirit Sovereign had to answer to.

It was planned well in advance that he would feature in this match. The lineup being fielded by the enemy was far more powerful than he had expected, but he was still very confident that victory would ultimately be theirs after the segmentation of the battlefield.

[1] [Fun fact: the term used here () actually translates directly into Sudoku]